"Nature cannot work till it has been supplied with a material: the
first matter is furnished by God, the second matter by the sage."
(Michael Sendivogius.)

"When corruptible elements are united in a certain substance,
their strife must sooner or later bring about its decomposition,
which is, of course, followed by putrefaction; in putrefaction,
the impure is separated from the pure; and if the pure elements
are then once more joined together by the action of natural heat,
a much nobler and higher form of life is produced.... If the
hidden central fire, which during life was in a state of
passivity, obtain the mastery, it attracts to itself all the pure
elements, which are thus separated from the impure, and form the
nucleus of a far purer form of life." (Michael Sendivogius.)

"Cause that which is above to be below; that which is visible to
be invisible; that which is palpable to become impalpable. Again
let that which is below become that which is above; let the
invisible become visible, and the impalpable become palpable. Here
you see the perfection of our Art, without any defect or
diminution." (Basil Valentine, 15th century.)

"Think most diligently about this; often bear in mind, observe and
comprehend, that all minerals and metals together, in the same
time, and after the same fashion, and of one and the same
principal matter, are produced and generated. That matter is no
other than a mere vapour, which is extracted from the elementary
earth by the superior stars, or by a sidereal distillation of the
macrocosm; which sidereal hot infusion, with an airy sulphurous
property, descending upon inferiors, so acts and operates as that